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Saudi Broadcasting Authority Signs 3 Agreements with Global Media, Tech Organizations

General view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 21 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
General view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 21 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
    Asharq A-Awsat
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Saudi Broadcasting Authority Signs 3 Agreements with Global Media, Tech Organizations

General view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 21 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
General view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 21 2020. REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri

The Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA) and three international companies with technological and media expertise signed a number of agreements at the Future of Media Exhibition (FOMEX), which was held in Riyadh on the sidelines of the 22nd Arab Radio and TV Festival.

CEO of SBA Mohammed Fahad al-Harthi signed the agreements with the representatives of the media companies.

Al-Harthi emphasized the strategic importance of the SBA's digital transformation project and the significance of these relationships in leveraging the expertise of the top companies in the industry.

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Varieties

Final Crystal Triangles Installed on Times Square Ball ahead of New Year's Eve

Times Square New Year's Eve Ball is displayed at One Times Square, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Times Square New Year's Eve Ball is displayed at One Times Square, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
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Final Crystal Triangles Installed on Times Square Ball ahead of New Year's Eve

Times Square New Year's Eve Ball is displayed at One Times Square, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Times Square New Year's Eve Ball is displayed at One Times Square, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

The last of the crystal triangles that make up this year's Times Square New Year's Eve ball were installed on Friday morning, marking the first time in 10 years that all 2,688 were replaced at once.

Rapper Pitbull and inventor Joy Mangano were among those on hand to help the organizers of the celebration put the final pieces in place atop One Times Square, the skyscraper from which the 11,875-pound (5,386-kilogram) geodesic sphere drops to mark the new year, according to The AP.

A New Year's Eve ball was first dropped in Times Square in 1907. Built by a young immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr, the 700-pound (318-kilogram), 5-foot (1.52-meter) diameter ball was made of iron and wood and featured 100 25-watt light bulbs. Six newer versions of the ball have been featured in the century-plus since that first celebration.

The only years no ball drop occurred were 1942 and 1943, when the city instituted a nightly “dimout” during World War II to protect itself from attacks. Crowds instead celebrated the new year with a moment of silence followed by chimes rung from the base of One Times Square.